School of the Future
Background * opened in September, 2006 * joint project between the School District of Philadelphia and Microsoft. * most advanced high school in the nation, with technology deeply integrated into the curriculum. History * Construction began in November 2004, and the project was billed as an integral part of a $1.5 billion plan by the city to reform the city's schools. Mismanagement and low test scores even prompted the state to take over the school district in early 2003. Details * Admission by lottery and area neighborhoods. * Students are nearly 99 percent minority, with all but 15 percent of them coming from low-income households. Details Students will use smart cards and Tablet PCs for many of their daily activities, and will be able to connect wirelessly to the schools internal network. Teachers will have less paperwork, as everything from grades to student testing will be handled digitally. Those involved in the school district said Microsoft's hands-on approach in building the school made a big difference in ensuring the project was completed. "Education is too big an issue for any one organization to tackle by itself, and the hands-on contributions of a partner like Microsoft will prove to be worth more than any dollar amount," said James Nevels, chairman of the Philadelphia School Reform Commission. "This collaboration accomplished in three years what no single entity has ever been able to do alone." Add a Comment (29 Comments) History The Philadelphia School District had already tried Hip Hop High, and Microsoft High ain't going to be any more successful. The only rational alternative: Abu Ghraib High! "Microsoft High" is based on the release cycle for Windows. Thus each step -freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior- takes over five years and still may not get done ! There's different diploma's, too: "Home", "Premium", and "Ultimate". Graduates with the Home Diploma won't be able to do much more than read and write. But with a Premium Diploma they'll be able to watch DVD's. And, Ultimate Diploma grads will have capability to perform vaguely defined 'advanced' tasks Microsoft shall tell us more about later. Security is always an issue at high schools. Students (to be called "users") will have to provide passwords just to walk down the halls. At Microsoft High, students won't be able to write graffiti directly on the rest room walls ! Best they can do is make temporary dirty remarks on Post It notes. Adopting Microsoft corporate culture, classes have been abolished and everyone spends the first half of the day in meetings to discuss what announcements they're going to make ...then everybody goes home early ! Actually accomplishing anything tangible is viewed as "too traditional" and shall be discouraged. Apple will be opening a competing school across the street. Not many details are available yet. We only know that students there will be called "dude", and teachers addressed as "hey, man". Seriously, though, if Microsoft High is supposed to be so cutting-edge, how come they have a physical campus ? One might think it would've been an on-line virtual campus. Let's see the neighborhood thugs, er, Bro. Rat means "pupils", destroy a ~virtual~ campus ! And why is Microsoft's corporate culture held up as a model here ? Is the educational goal for every student to have bad public relations, treat customers like idiots, and get emeshed for ~years~ in law suits ? This reminds the PC Rodent of people in Hollywood who -because they're successful actors- think they also know something about politics. Does making billions selling computer software also make Microsoft expert on the subject of public education ? Links * Schools Media * Microsoft's High-Tech School Opens in Philly from September, 2006